Program Requirements

Master's Program Design

The program entails an integrated academic and practicum curriculum that provides students with expertise to pursue a variety of career options in the mental health field, domestically and abroad. Program requirements are designed to be completed in seven academic quarters over two years. The University of Denver is on a quarter system, and students must attend fall, winter, spring, and summer quarters of their first year and fall, winter, and spring quarters of their second year. All students are required to successfully complete all courses, consisting of 90 quarter hours of coursework. The two year course of study is designed to provide training in such areas as international disaster psychology, disaster mental health, trauma interventions, cross-cultural psychology, group interventions, psychopathology and resilience, crisis intervention, loss and grief, clinical interviewing and psychotherapy and refugee mental health.

COMMUNITY BASED FIELD-PLACEMENT

During fall, winter, and spring terms of both their first and second years, students are required to complete community field placements and supervision in the Denver area. A variety of field-placementsites are available, including local non-governmental and state agencies providing direct mental health care, case management, policy and grant writing, disaster planning and preparedness,and disaster relief services. Agencies serve diverse populations and age-groups, including refugee and low-SES individuals, many of whom have been affected by trauma and disaster. Students spend a minimum of ten hours a week at their placement.

INTERNATIONAL INTERNSHIP

During the summer between the first and second year of enrollment, students engage in an 8-week international internship, providing a rich opportunity to apply theory to practice in the global context. International internships are arranged by the program with non-governmental and governmental agencies whose missions focus on a variety of mental health and psychosocial issues relevant to the needs of individuals and communities affected by disaster and trauma. While the locations of our internships vary each summer, in recent years students have interned in Ghana, Liberia, Bosnia, Serbia, Croatia, Nepal, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Panama and Belize.